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Senior pastor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Quoted experts
Dr. Jill DeTemple Ph.D.,
Leah Thomas Ph.D.
Senior pastor example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical senior pastor skills. We ranked the top skills for senior pastors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 22.5% of senior pastor resumes contained community outreach as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a senior pastor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 senior pastor skills for your resume and career

1. Community Outreach

Here's how senior pastors use community outreach:
  • Provided pastoral care to congregation and community through counseling, hospital visitation, and community outreach.
  • Coordinated community outreach events including vendors and food services, facilities, marketing and promotional materials.

2. Pastoral Care

Here's how senior pastors use pastoral care:
  • Fulfilled various pastoral care responsibilities involving visiting, counseling, and administrative functions.
  • Church Stabilization Responsibilities, Sacramental Ministry, Pastoral Care Ministry, Church Administration Ministry

3. Overseer

Here's how senior pastors use overseer:
  • Position held, Senior Pastor, District Overseer West Dayton, Examination Board for Credentialing in Southern Ohio Church Of God.
  • Assisted Overseer TL Carter in increasing his membership from100 to over 250 active members.

4. Bible Study

Bible study is the careful examination of the Bible by people as a way of spiritual or personal religious practice. Bible study is a holy act to some denominations.

Here's how senior pastors use bible study:
  • Conduct weekly bible study, provide leadership training in addition to biblical counseling whenever necessary.
  • Developed weekly college and young adult Bible study focused on counter-cultural living.

5. GOD

Here's how senior pastors use god:
  • Established Military Ministry Team Developing a culture of Discipleship- teaching Experiencing God several times
  • Average attendance was 55 when I began my pastorate and God has grown the congregation to an average of 70 today.

6. Funeral Services

Funeral Services are offered by funeral directors who manage a deceased person's affairs in a funeral home. They look after the funeral, allow cemetery visits, order coffins, set out wakes and memorial services, and fulfill any other family request concerning funeral planning.

Here's how senior pastors use funeral services:
  • Facilitate funeral services and provide bereavement and grief counseling for individuals and families.
  • Conduct funeral services and counsel individuals seeking spiritual guidance.

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7. Youth Ministry

Here's how senior pastors use youth ministry:
  • Revitalized Youth Ministry including establishing Praise Dance Ministry.
  • Directed a community-wide youth ministry.

8. Public Speaking

Public Speaking or oration, as it is sometimes known, is the act of any one person speaking live in front of an audience. Although in the past the audience was only a physical one, nowadays oration might be done on an online video call, at a digital conference, at an online class, or elsewhere. The art of public speaking is very old, drawing its first established roots from Ancient Greece and likely from before, too. It is an important skill and asset in many industries.

Here's how senior pastors use public speaking:
  • Delivered weekly public speaking presentations that were designed for personal development.
  • Perform public speaking and travel extensively both nationally and internationally.

9. Evangelism

Here's how senior pastors use evangelism:
  • Emphasized Christ-centered teaching, fervent prayer, multilevel family Christian education programs, evangelism and mission outreaches.
  • Provide Spiritual and Pastoral Leadership through counseling, evangelism, outreach and administrative guidance.

10. Baptist

A baptist is a member of the protestant Christians sharing the beliefs and insist that believers must get baptized through immersion into water and not pouring or a sprinkling of water.

Here's how senior pastors use baptist:
  • Chaired Mount Vernon Baptist Association Finance Committee
  • Led in administrative oversight of Calvary Baptist Christian School, (150 students, pre-k-12; 13 staff members).

11. Discipleship

Here's how senior pastors use discipleship:
  • Developed curriculum for church programs including Sunday school and discipleship training.
  • Implemented a midweek discipleship program that focused on in-depth spiritual training.

12. Leadership Development

Leadership Development is a term for the process of improving the leadership, management, organizational, and similarly relevant skills of somebody working in a managerial or other leadership skill.

Here's how senior pastors use leadership development:
  • Corrected local focus from program-oriented to goal-oriented through lay leadership development.
  • Prioritized leadership development to promote unity and vision of the organization.

13. Prayer

Here's how senior pastors use prayer:
  • Established prayer ministry team with evangelical focus.
  • Followed up on prayer requests and helped to meet the need of the individual struggling with his/her faith.

14. Local Community

Here's how senior pastors use local community:
  • Worked as adjunct Human Resource Director for local community
  • Revitalized the leaders, grew parishioners, trained and equipped leadership to grow and prosper their ministry to the local community.

15. Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is an often necessary skill in business, employed for processes such as contract negotiations, legal matters, and even personal, emotional situations and conflicts. It is the ability to find and create an appropriate and peaceful solution to some sort of dilemma or argument in which two or more parties are involved. The resolution itself must benefit and satisfy all parties and this is what makes it so difficult to reach a peaceful point sometimes.

Here's how senior pastors use conflict resolution:
  • Assisted in development, implementation, and evaluation of conflict resolution program.
  • Provide counseling and conflict resolution to individuals affected by tragedy/change.
top-skills

What skills help Senior Pastors find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on senior pastor resumes?

Dr. Jill DeTemple Ph.D.Dr. Jill DeTemple Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Department Chair, Professor, Southern Methodist University

Our graduates tell us employers often note the rarity of religious studies degrees, and then go on to remark with excitement about things like intercultural competence and communication skills that the degree supports. For more on that see: Smu

What soft skills should all senior pastors possess?

Leah Thomas Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care and Contextual Education, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary

In my students, I encourage the development of soft skills such as deep listening, empathy, authenticity, flexibility, integrity, trustworthiness, and a collaborative leadership style. These skills exist alongside commitments to ongoing spiritual formation, self and theological reflection and reflexivity, ongoing education and supervision, and care of the self's physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual parts.

What hard/technical skills are most important for senior pastors?

Leah Thomas Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care and Contextual Education, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary

In terms of the hard/technical skills that aid pastors/ministers in carrying out their responsibilities, these would include skills of crisis intervention, conflict resolution & peacebuilding, knowledge and praxis related to racial justice and reconciliation, and knowledge of (and techniques for) addressing some of the following situations: trauma and grief, conflicts in the family (including pre-marital, marital and family interventions), addictions and situations of sexual abuse. In all of this, attention to the intercultural dimension of pastoral caregiving is also extremely important. Clinical Pastoral Education training can also provide some of these "hard" and "soft" skills.

What senior pastor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Scott Shauf Ph.D.

Professor of Religious Studies; Department Chair, Gardner-Webb University

Be open to God’s calling, especially to places you don’t feel comfortable going. There are many ways to serve in ministry, and God may call you to places and tasks you haven’t even thought of. Remember what you have learned, and always think critically and faithfully. Consider pursuing a Master of Divinity degree, for the church needs educated ministers. But whether you do or not, never stop learning.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about senior pastor

List of senior pastor skills to add to your resume

Senior pastor skills

The most important skills for a senior pastor resume and required skills for a senior pastor to have include:

  • Community Outreach
  • Pastoral Care
  • Overseer
  • Bible Study
  • GOD
  • Funeral Services
  • Youth Ministry
  • Public Speaking
  • Evangelism
  • Baptist
  • Discipleship
  • Leadership Development
  • Prayer
  • Local Community
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Baptisms
  • Community Events
  • Fund Raising
  • Outreach Program
  • Leadership Training
  • Spiritual Care
  • Local Church
  • Administrative Leadership
  • Pastoral Ministry
  • Community Involvement
  • Spiritual Leadership
  • Gospel
  • VBS
  • Spiritual Guidance
  • Pastoral Leadership
  • Spiritual Growth
  • Christian Education
  • Church Building
  • Hospital Visitation
  • Jesus Christ
  • Spiritual Development
  • Deacons
  • Methodist Church
  • Church Operations

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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